AAP to field celebrity candidates to ensure win

The names who are making rounds for tickets include former television personality Ashutosh, JNU professor Anand Kumar, former journalist Ashish Khetan, Adarsh Shahstri, Sanjay Singh, and Alka Lamba.

According to the party sources Anand Kumar who contested from North-East Lok Sabha seat in the general elections 2014, is likely to get a ticket from Timarpur assembly constituency. Ashutosh, who lost from Chandni Chowk to Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan is reportedly planning to enter the Vidhan Sabha contesting from a safer seat in East Delhi.

Alka Lamba, who joined Congress just before the Lok Sabha elections, is most likely to get a ticket from Rajouri Garden which the BJP had given to Siromani Akali Dal (Badal) candidate as part of political agreement which was Maninder Singh Sirsa. Ashish Khaitan is all set to contest from Rajinder Nagar seat.

The party sources further said that senior party leader Sanjay Singh is likely to be fielded from outer Delhi and grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Adarsh Shastri will be fielded from South Delhi.

AAP leaders feel that the party needs to channelise its energy and scant resources in Delhi itself where it made an impressive debut in the last year December assembly elections but failed to win any of the seven Lok Sabha seats. The party vows to field more candidates with a clean image and integrity. Meanwhile, party spokesperson and senior AAP leader Ashutosh said first list of the candidates is likely to come out on Thursday or Friday. Meanwhile, party chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday that AAP could win 40-45 seats in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

The former Delhi chief minister, who resigned after running a 49-day government, had been saying in his rallies, that more the BJP extends the term of President’s rule in the national Capital, more the seats the party will bag.

‘We will win 40-45 seats,’ Kejriwal said in a response to a question by reporters, on whether the party had done an internal survey, and how many seats it was expected to win. ‘The BJP has done exactly the opposite to what it promised. It hiked the electricity tariff, there has been an increase in inflation,’ he said.

Incidentally, an opinion poll conducted recently by a news channel said that the saffron party will sweep Delhi assembly polls, and AAP will come a distant second.